Sharing Joy Openly and Disappointment Responsibly

I am a gratefully recovering compulsive overeater, abstinent by the grace of God one more* day at a time. †

Yesterday did not go as I had planned which, for a recovering food addict, is good exercise. My workout got preempted by my commitment to wait all day for servicemen, who showed up much later than expected. When they finally arrived, I was instructed to pull apart some of my wood flooring. When I began the heartbreaking task, we discovered an extra colony of termites had infested the flooring, so I had to pull up my beautiful laminate floor until I found clean boards (about 80 square feet).

Between the physical and emotional exhaustion and the dust allergy flare-up, by the end of the day, I had excused myself from the gym workout, which I made up this morning. The exterminator had none but bad news and is returning today with the “big guns” to do a little more intense treatment than was planned, but the plumber was full of good news, finding neither slab leak nor need for whole-house re-pipe. He will also be returning today to find whatever leak has drawn the termites and fix it. Goodbye, Mixet shower fixture! (They are notoriously problematic.)

Dear Father, in the name of Jesus, rebuke the devourer from off my household. Your will (only) be done! Thank you for deliverance from the necessity of a total re-plumbing job.

“Those of us who live this program don’t simply carry the message; we are the message. Each day that we live well, we are well, and we embody the joy of recovery which attracts others who want what we’ve found in OA. We’re always happy to share our secret: the Twelve Steps of Overeaters Anonymous, which empower each of us to live well and be well, one day at a time.” — The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, p. 106

This short quote contains so much! We aren’t just messengers, we are representatives – living billboards of the hope of recovery for those who are dying without it. Wellness is a way of living, not just a state of being. As I put my spirit under God’s and align my way with His, eliminating my will in preference for His, I am well, and sooner or later, my physical and mental being will reflect that also. Ours is a spiritual solution for a physical symptom of a holistic (physical, mental and spiritual) disease. And so, sharing the hope is not a chore but a joy, each occasion an opportunity to multiply wholeness and spread vitality to someone new. Abundant life is contagious and pleasant to share!

By the way, I have learned that if we only live Step One of this program, we actually do it more harm than good. Telling everyone how powerless we are over food, and living in the powerlessness is NOT attractive without the power applied in the rest of the Steps. Without God’s deliverance, powerlessness is nothing but recognition of bondage!

Both these verses speak to my thoughts on being and sharing recovery. When I was in my disease, I was living between the resentments of my past and the fears of my tomorrow, hating every one and every moment in between, sure I deserved better or worse, depending on whether I was in the blame or the shame at the time. I have even postulated that fat itself is hate’s physical form. When I hated others I ate, and when I hated myself I ate, and the result was a very large man with a multitude of health problems and a perpetual state of anger. Since then, I am learning the Way of love and forgiveness, grace that covers all I’ve done and all that’s been done (or not done) to me. Under such a love I am not insulated completely from all conflict, but I am no longer stirring its pot, and I am far better enabled to deal with it.

I included verse 17 because it seems to back up what I said about people who are still in the problem and yet spread their toxic version of anger control in the name of something else. Nothing does more to sully the name of a recovery fellowship, or the Church for that matter, than the outspoken endorsement of the habitually hateful.

2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

Paul, here, is apparently speaking of himself and of his fellow apostle, but the truth of the verse is congruent with what Jesus and the prophets also said. (Luke 12:48, Numbers 15:29-30)

Along with the privilege of sharing the vitality I have found comes an obligation to share it faithfully. I would be doing no one a service to credit myself, a specific step, or some dietary rationale for the miracle in my life. Any success I have experienced has come at the hand of God, by His grace and mercy! This is also why I never shy away from naming my Higher Power, Jesus, as if faith in anything else would suffice. I am happy to meet people where they are, and offer them companionship along their way, but anyone who wants what I have needs to know that it comes by the name of Jesus. By Jesus I am saved, redeemed, regenerated, revived, and by Him I will be resurrected to eternal vitality in His company.

Life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends—this is an experience you must not miss. We know you will not want to miss it. Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives.